Inquisitor (3 page)

Flatis had never experienced such a pain. He almost went mad because of that torture. He was yelling with terror while looking at his chest torn apart so that his bones could be seen and at the bloody clouds floating in the water around him. His strength let him down, the boy started sinking slowly. His scream turned into gurgling and soon died away. There was nothing but for black clots of blood and shreds of algae on the surface. By that moment Lery had already reached the shallow water. Shaking and crouching, he rushed to leave the dangerous pond. After reaching the dry ground he was so exhausted that he fell down, hid his face in grass and started crying. He knew that Flatis was there… in the water. But he wasn’t strong enough to turn around and look at the hammer-pond. He was suffering from dreadful horror that was overwhelming him so much that the boy even forgot to check his bleeding leg.

An absolutely different image was in front of his eyes.

Again and again he saw the same black ugly monster that was biting his leg. Again and again he suffered from the same severe pain when the giant teeth closed on his leg in a fatal capture. Again and again he experienced the same awful terror when the fish dragged him to the frightening dark bottom…

The curled-up boy was lying on the ground and sobbing quietly…

Cold water near the bottom of the hammer-pond relieved Flatis’s pain a bit. He recovered enough to be able to keep the remains of air in his lungs and to look around. The strange fish was coming back. Twisting like a monstrous snake, it was swishing the water thickness easily, keeping its jaw open widely to catch the offender and drag him to a deeper place. Flatis was helplessly looking at the predator approaching him fast. He got frozen – he was just a kid who didn’t possess braveness like an experienced warrior who was used to facing death – so he gave up. Flatis closed his eyes not to see the death coming closer to him and stayed put in the dark water.

The damned monster had shredded the kind old host of the deep water apart, it had almost killed his best friend and then it was going to kill him… why? They hadn’t done any harm!

The boy – who had just a few seconds until the end and who had already given up – suddenly started and opened his eyes widely. The blind rage against the enemy was rising in him. It was doubled by the pain caused by his injury. In a few seconds the fish came closer to the boy and opened its jaw even more widely. It was ready to cast the final hit.

But Flatis did it. He looked into the single black eye of the fish and grinned.

He managed to control the rage that was boiling inside him. He managed to formulate it in a single phrase and to throw it at the murderer:

‘Die, damned beast, die!’…

He managed to see scarlet-red aura that wrapped his hands and was getting brighter and brighter…

Finally Lery, extremely pale because of fear, raised his head from the wet grass, rolled to his back and looked at the still water of the mill hammer-pond.

He couldn’t see Flatis anywhere. Lery pulled his legs to the chest and hugged the knees. His thoughtless eyes were staring blank.

The boy was at the edge of insanity although he wasn’t aware of it. If there had been a wise old man nearby at that moment, he would have immediately shaken the frozen boy to divert him from dangerous thoughts that could lead to the dark abyss of madness. But Lery was absolutely alone. Nobody could help him. The poor youngster got frozen.

Unexpected help came from a different side. From the hammer-pond.

First, a bright blinding flash tore the dark thickness apart. Then a huge boiling hill bulged on the water surface. Hissing pillars of steam soared into the sky. The bank vibrated hard. And a muffled roar of vaporizing water sounded over the ground. Lery was thrown back and dragged over the grass. The water hill that was bulging inside out slowed down a bit and then started reducing reluctantly. The speed of its fall was increasing second by second until the huge amount of water fell down in the hammer-pond overwhelming its banks with boiling muddy waves. One of those waves threw to the bank some shreds of algae, liquid mud together with stones and… coughing Flatis.

Soon the hammer-pond water calmed down. A few of surviving water lilies emerged on the surface and started dancing on the carpet made from algae shreds. Some air bubbles came to the surface near the bank and the dead sharp-teethed fish followed them with its bulged belly upside down. Then stayed put on the water surface. Suddenly, stunned Lery smelled rich fish-soup.

Having recovered, he ran to Flatis limping because of the injured leg. He shrank when he saw a long wound spreading on his friend’s chest but then managed to control himself and started shaking Flatis as forcefully as he could.

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Flatis! Flatis! Wake up!

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Lery… You’re alive… - Flatis whispered and a weak smile appeared on his face.

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Yes, I’m alive, I’m alive – Lery said very quickly.

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What happened? Do you know? A flash… then a bang! I thought it could pierce my ears! Flatis! What was it?

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I have no idea. My chest hurts… - Flatis burst out coughing. – That’s bad. Lery, don’t tell Mommy anything…

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Are you mad? Have you seen your wound? – Lery exclaimed – Here it is, press my shirt against the chest, I’ll run to the village to call for help! Don’t move! Got it?! I’ll be back in a minute!

Flatis nodded, then lowered his head back and stared at the ultra blue sky. He could hear Lery’s fast steps dying away in the distance – Lery was going to the village to ask for help, he was falling down and assertively standing up again. Lery knew for sure – Flatis had rescued him and he was not going to let his best friend die because of bleeding.

Soon all the sounds disappeared as Flatis lost consciousness and it saved him. Later he got to know that it had taken Lery less time to get to the village than it usually took them. He was shouting as loud as he could and shook the entire village up. Flatis didn’t see how fast the men were running to the village through the woods and that his father was the first who was rushing with a grimace of madness on his face. Flatis didn’t remember how carefully he was bandaged and how cautiously his father was carrying him home without ever stopping. Flatis didn’t hear his mother crying and the old woman – the herbalist – murmuring to calm her down. Meanwhile he saw the black vacuum with a roaring fiery sphere in the center that was burning brightly…

The peasants brought the dead beast to the village. They needed a big dray to do that. They hardly placed the body on it and the tail was almost touching the ground. Everybody was shocked by the size of the unknown fish and its sharp-teethed jaw. No one could remember seeing such fish – even the oldest men just shrugged their shoulders and scratched the backs of their heads in puzzlement. To crown it all, the fish was boiled – ready to be served. And it surprised the peasants most of all. They shook their beards and sighed in confusion and then decided to go to Flatis’s and Lery’s houses.

The main hero of that event was unconscious. And no one was allowed to enter his house further than the threshold. They had to question Lery who was lying on the broad bench at home as his injured leg was being treated. Lerri told them a lot – that they had been going to treat the catfish and to beg him to send rain – at that moment the priest shook his head with disapproval but didn’t say anything aloud. Lery said that the catfish hadn’t come up to the surface and he had had to dive and found the host’s head torn apart from the body that was lying on the oozy bottom and its dead eyes were staring at him – at that moment all the women began groaning loudly and the elder had to bark to return the silence. Lery also told about the fish that had bit his leg. He confessed that Flatis had rescued him from the fatal jaw of the fish. But he couldn’t reveal the main mystery – why the huge fish died and, importantly, who boiled it.

Lery spread his arms helplessly. He could say a few words about a bright flash in the water and about pillars of hot steam but that was all he knew. The bemused men looked at each other and no one noticed that the elder narrowed his eyes as if he was thinking about something and soon rushed to leave the house.

Flatis’s unconsciousness lasted the whole week. But he was young and it helped him to recover fast. All his relatives were happy as the wound was closing up very quickly. The old herbalist assured that only his flesh and skin were injured, as for the inside, it hadn’t been even touched.

In three extremely hot days an elegant cart, that belonged to the mage who could send rain, came to the village. It was escorted by two imperial soldiers. Everybody was looking forward to seeing the mage. The best carpet was spread under an ancient oak beforehand and a small table with delicacies was put on it. The elder personally served a jug of cool wine to the mage who settled down as the host. The elder had bought the wine specially for such an occasion when he had taken the tribute to the town. The mage tasted the wine with pleasure, wiped off the well-groomed small beard, quacked, looked around the villagers who were crowding at some distance and then said carelessly:

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So you are suffering from drought. And you are likely to lose your harvest.

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You’re right, sir – the elder answered in a hurry – Your infinite kindness is our last resort.

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You know the price. Five silver coins and it will rain in the evening. If you delve properly in your bins and draw out a gold coin, it won’t stop raining till morning. You are to decide.

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Where can we find so many coins, honorable mage? Thank God, if we scratch together a couple of silver coins.

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Well… then you’re just wasting my time – the mage grumbled with discontent and started standing up.

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Wait, sir, wait a bit! – the elder was really nervous – There is one boy…

The longer the elder was speaking, the higher the mage’s eyebrows were rising and the greater interest it was provoking. The mage was carefully listening to the old man who was murmuring something in a hurry…

When the first drops of the long-expected rain fell down on the overdried ground, a firm heavy hand knocked on Flatis’s family’s door, then the imperial soldiers got into the hut and stepped aside to let the mage come in, exactly as they had been taught. The mage looked around with disgust, cast a glimpse at Flatis’s parents who were standing awkwardly frozen, then confidently came to the broad bench and bended over the sleeping boy. After peering at Flatis’s face, the mage nodded with satisfaction.

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The old man was right. This boy possesses the fiery gift and, I’m sure, it’s one of the highest level as he had managed to kill a bog tyrexle– the bearded mage uttered thoughtfully and turned to Flatis’s father – Your son possesses a magic gift! You know the law. He belongs to the Empire since this moment. I’ll take him to the capital.

Flatis’s mother started wailing in a muffled voice. She was about to fall at the mage’s feet, but the father touched her shoulder and whispered some tender words caressing her hair.

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There’s no reason to wail! – the mage snorted with disappointment – You should be happy! You brought up a future mage! Take it – the mage delved in the pocket of his jacket and threw some silver coins offhandedly on the table – The Empire thanks you! Gather the boy’s things. And hurry up! I’m not going to spend this night on the road.

The mage came out to the yard and smiled. Silly peasants didn’t know that according to the king’s decree each family that brought up a future combat mage should get ten gold coins and the annulment of the tribute for five years or maybe even forever. Some silver and a promised rain would be enough for them…

The wooden cart was running fast along a narrow road and soon Flatis could hardly see through the slanting rain the silhouettes of his parents standing on the village outskirt. The cart took a sudden turning to a wide track and finally Flatis’s native village melted away.

Flatis was hugging a bundle of things collected in a hurry by his crying mother and his blank eyes were staring at nothing. He didn’t know where that arrogant mage was taking him, but his heart felt that he wouldn’t see his relatives for a very long time…

The village kid didn’t know and actually he couldn’t know his future – and perhaps it was for the better – as his future wasn’t a happy one…

The end of the first story

‘Inquisitor’, a series of stories

Forest Metochion

Sergeant Whisker yawned and shook his head to get rid of sleepiness. A narrow and rather dense forest lane made his heart sick. So did their assignment. To go into such a wilderness just to check never-ending gossips about some undead rising from the graves and about bloody ritual ceremonies assertedly held there! So many leagues away from the Border Wall...

Nonsense! Local peasants whose minds rusted in that bog because of total boredom must have invented some rubbish that the capital was happy to believe in just to demonstrate their care about their people.